Kings Warfare
by Gothic Rain
Summary: Hermione comes from a time of great sorrow, a time when the world ended, and the only choice she had left was to reset the future by going back to the past. Now she has to stop a Dark Lord from causing World War III and prepare the world for their greatest enemy yet. If only it were so easy to accomplish.
1. The End Is A New Beginning

**Kings Warfare**

**Chapter One: The End Is A New Beginning**

* * *

There are those who said this day would never come. Those who swore that this war would become our grave. That this was a battle none of us would make it out alive and for once in the long sixteen years since the Blight had ended for good, their prediction had become our reality.

Hermione had never listened to the fears of the people before. Thinking of the future had never seemed more important than fighting for a tomorrow. She was a good soldier, after all. A human weapon engineered by the government for the sole purpose of ending the Blight to save the world. The energy in her veins had ensured she only had four years with her family before the military took her in and forged her into a weapon humanity needed her to be - hope. Twenty years of her life she had served the human race as a whole, taking the blame when the KINGS sacrificed millions of civilians lives for the greater good of crippling the Blight only to realize too late that they had done accomplished nothing but turn their own people against them with an enemy still at large. Yet still, Hermione followed every order she was given, led every team she was entrusted with a single-minded focus to be the deliverance of death to the KINGS' adversaries.

And now that she had served her purpose, the Blight had ended, she was a member of an endangered species. For even though they had ended the war with the extinction of the Blight their planet had suffered greatly by the use of their CBRN MWD. Cities had sunken, any water left was toxic, and what few living places remained were in a ruin of scorched marks and graveyards of skeletal remains. Those still alive were faced with certain death no matter where they went to scavenge for food and water. Civilians were all hostile to Hermione leaving her to search places they had yet to claim or she'd risk-taking human life while under gunfire. Even the military who had become her home and family had fallen apart when their commanders proved to care more about themselves than the fate of the world, leaving their soldiers little more than mercenaries trying to finish what they set out to do.

But where her fellow soldiers set out to look for a new life outside of the one they had always known, Hermione continued as she always had to be humanity's last hope even in the face of certain extinction. Over seven-hundreds days she journeyed across the world searching for a solution on land that was dry and cracked open at every turn. Where the weather was hazardous to a point that a day under direct sunlight was too hot that the search for water was fueled with blood-tinted desperation and a day in the night threatened by flesh-eating acid rain in darkness unending. There was no green, no energy flowing through the Earth, and so few animals to hunt for food and furs. Through anyone else's eyes, all hope would seem lost but Hermione refused to give up and sought answers where no man or beast had gone since the One-Hundred Year War.

Now she was finishing what she had set out to do.

As morning ascended and the storm passed on, Hermione picked up her staff and attached it to her back before moving at a faster pace than the day before. Her stomach grumbled and curled in pain from a deprivation of food she had nothing to provide and what water she was of sips only when absolutely necessary. She did not have time to scavenge for more as shown from the taunting light of the moon the night before where sleep was the only thing she could risk giving her body.

She had five more places she needed to mark if she was going to succeed in the mission she set out for herself and each location was located on a different continent. The blood moon was tomorrow and she had no time to spare. If she missed tomorrow's deadline she'd have no way to influence the veil directly. As if sensing her distress an echoing roar shouted out over the mountain peak behind her and she turned to find the familiar black form of Kronahviir.

Of the few remaining creatures that lived on this Earth, Hermione was lucky to have survived with her companion by her side. The dragon had been with her since she was a child and she knew without a doubt that she couldn't have done this without him.

As he landed beside her with the grace of a feline, she smiled at him as he plopped the half-eaten carcass of a mountain goat at her feet, one of the rarest animals to find these days. She knelt beside it and took a deep whiff of smoky meat seeing as Krona had already taken the time to cook it and without any preparation, she ripped into it. It had been days since she had last eaten and what she had last must've been crammed in a can for years. This was a delicacy and it would give her the energy to make it to tomorrow.

When she was done she allowed the dragon to gobble down the rest knowing that if she was starving for days, he had been for weeks. As the goat slowly disappeared down his gullet, she stroked the umber scales that glittered from the light of the morning sun. Krona had always been the underdog of all the other dragons she had met. He wasn't the size of a tank or a ship and was the smallest dragon of 20ft long ever ridden by a human but he wasn't to be underestimated either as Hermione quickly learned. Krona's fire burned up to fifty feet and because of his smaller stature, he was best for infiltration underground where other dragons were too big to fly safely there.

Once the goat was all but swallowed, Hermione grasped twin horns jutting from his head as she maneuvered to sit on the smooth part of his neck, the only place where none of his spikes protected his body. Hermione would never tire at the sight of the world from a dragon's back as Krona stretched his winged arms stretched out in preparation of flight and the ground fell away as he propelled himself forward in a single mighty leap of his back legs.

And there from the world, they looked down on as they soared over Russia in just eight hours and reached all five locations before the dawn of a new day. It was in the last site that Hermione finished the final point of the inner hexagon in Niger which had been reduced to nothing but a wasteland after the Blight first began in 2096. It was also for this reason that it was an important location for Hermione to mark. A place of so much bloodshed was practically haunted with death and even now after sixteen years, she could still feel the spiritual energy in the air.

Once all the lines were drawn in the dirt and her aura was embedded in the area to keep it contained, Hermione uncapped her camelback and with decades' worth of practice under her belt she twirled gracefully and guided the water out without spilling a single drop in each bend of her body. With the water now flowing infinitely in the air, Hermione danced carefully around the circle she had drawn and carefully filled in each line with her water until it was finished.

Looking over her work, she nodded in approval that her magic successfully held her water in place so that no wind or otherwise would cause the water to break the lines she'd so carefully dawn. The ritual she was using was very meticulous with its details a single line broke would lead to catastrophic results. Now there was only one thing left to do and she had to go to Egypt to do so.

Returning to where Kronahviir was resting patiently for her, she got on his back for the last time and experienced the unforgettable thrill of the wind in her hair and the warm scales of her friend carrying her weight for the two hours under the stars it took to reach Giza.

**.**

**.**

**-~ K W ~-**

**.**

**.**

As Hermione stood at the center of the world where the ritual began she couldn't help but dally by the side of her last living friend before dusk descended and the blood moon arrived. With less than an hour to activate the ritual and change the world forever the burden of the entire situation pressed down hard on her that the warm presence of her dragon felt like the only thing keeping her grounded. The freshly carved runes in her body still pooled with blood that stung every time she moved that pressing her forehead against his was the only goodbye she could give her greatest friend. And as she stared into his warm ember eyes for answers she found his unending trust and assurance for her. But the sadness in his eyes hurt her the most and she let herself cry the water out from her body to give herself this final mourning.

"I will never forget you," she promised, laughing wetly as his smoky breath warmed her chest against her before pulling away to step into the center. She prepared herself with a deep breath and cleared her mind, concentrating with a single-minded focus on nothing but what she wanted to accomplish in the activation of this ritual.

Fifteen places of extreme bloodshed to tear through the veil into the Spirit World and call for their power to fuel this deed. By the will of a dying planet and what little Nature Energy remains to resurrect the past and erase the future as they know it.

The idea to make the past the new present came with the hope that there had been enough brutal and extreme number of death within the last century that would agree to fulfill her desire to go back before it had begun. Her main worry was that in needing to go back a hundred and fifty years she would need about 15 billion willing souls to sacrifice their existence to make this possible.

To put it simply, she was going back to a time before the future and would be erasing the time and life that had happened within one-hundred-and-fifty years. The planet would essentially become younger and unscarred from the war-torn apocalyptic future Hermione had been born into and the Spirit World would be missing every soul that lost their life since World War III - better known as the 100 Year War.

The most important part for this to work as for Hermione to control how she went back in time. She was going to a time before she was even born and every year she had lived has made her mind, her body, and her magic so much stronger. If she hadn't applied these ritual-altering runes that would only affect her body during the activation of the Triple-Hexagon circle chances were she would've simply destroyed her soul entirely and left the world to go repeat history without her in it.

Now, so long as the runes did what she needed them to, her body would age younger a single year every ten years in order for the Earth to reset the future as needed without destroying her body in the process. Her soul, her magic, and her mind should be left untouched by time - if not, she risks her ability to stop the chain of events that began World War III and the inevitable war against the Blight.

Unfortunately, this was all theoretical and there was a fifty-fifty chance of _something _going wrong or at the very least something not going as planned. If she went back just one year ahead of schedule her magic would tear her body apart since she was one of the KINGS mages - and thus a "Military Advanced Genetically-Engineered" human - so if just one screw got loose her entire body would fall apart.

And because that thought wasn't helping right now, she cast it aside and looked up into the crimson shining moon in the night, overshadowing the stars by a mile and reminding her of all the blood that was spilled to make this needed.

_"In the circle of Earth and Spirit_

_Let the way be open_

_Our world is ending_

_Let the energy return_

_In the earth, the air, the fire, the water_

_Let the energy return"_

Hermione spoke each word slowly and carefully, pronouncing each Latin letter perfectly as she channels her magic to her feet into the sands of the desert. Dark clouds had begun to stir overhead as streaks of lightning and death hovered above her.

"_Take life and take death_

_The lightning above me and the shadow behind me_

_Free our souls_

_Watchers of time_

_Nature around me_

_Spirits within me_

_Wash it away"_

As she finished the second verse she felt a warmth at the base of her neck as the veil began to tear by the hands of the dead haunting this place. She always had a sixth sense when it came to energy and nothing could mistake the heaviness in the air, the comforting embrace wrapping itself around her or the completely out-of-place brush of wind through her hair like a gentle touch.

_"Earth's bones_

_We all come from the Goddess_

_And to her, we shall return_

_Like a drop of rain_

_Flowing to the ocean_

_With no beginning_

_A never-ending circle"_

Like an Earthquake, she felt the Earth tremor beneath her feet and crack open causing the sand to fall into the fissure-like cracks like waterfalls. Every weight and burden on her shoulders felt like it was lifted and her next breath was like a jumpstart to her heart. She felt more alive than she ever had before and the previously unexcited dull world around her was now a bright with vibrant flourishing colors. The earth was suddenly vivid and ethereal as she performed the ritual.

_"You are spirit and you are nature_

_You are the life that flows within me_

_Together we move_

_Together we return_

_And wash it away_

_In the circle of Earth and Spirit_

_As one"_

The verses would make this sound like it was easy but at this point, she couldn't ignore the paralysis creeping up her feet and the persistent feeling of disconnection. First, her hearing went out, closely followed by her sense of smell and touch until finally, her vision began to tunnel.

Each breath feels like she wasn't getting any air at all. The warmth turned to burning and the embrace became chains that held her down and leeched every last drop of energy in her veins. The tremors swept her feet out from beneath her as she felt the cracking of the ground reflect the state of her body; the bones in her hands snapped first but the scariest part was watching as cracks appeared in her skin like she was made of stone.

But just as she feared she would witness her own body shatter into pieces Hermione found herself drifting forward on an invisible current abandoning what anchored her behind until all that remained was blue.

**.**

**.**

**-~ K W ~-**

**.**

**.**

The next time she opened her eyes it was for the uncomfortable scratch of tiny grains of sand digging in too close to her eyes. The side of her face burned from the scorching sun and as she found the strength to push herself up, the burn followed her down her back.

Saying it was uncomfortable was an understatement but as she studied the burn of her brandy-colored skin she jolted at the realization that most of her scars were gone and her hands were much smaller. Bouncing to her feet she quickly noticed that her armor was made specifically for her now bunched up at the elbows and fell loosely over her shoulders. Even her chest plate looked like its size was trying to make up for something that wasn't there - and that paired with her newfound short stature was something she would need to get used to.

She took in a deep breath like she was expecting the air to taste different somehow only to grimace as the air went down her very dry throat. It tastes more like sandpaper. Turning around she searched for anything that looked familiar but all she could see was endless hills of sand that, if she wasn't so thirsty, would've been taken as quite a sight. But as she was, there was too much on her mind and too much she needed to get done right now for her to do anything but feel where the wind current was going.

With no dragon to lead the way from the sky and no water, she decided that there was only one thing she could do when the time was against her. Removing her staff from where it was connected to her armor, she held it in one hand in front of her before taking out her tactical knife from her shoulder. Without a single moment's hesitation, she cut the jagged blade into her arm, sheathed the knife, then dipped her fingers in the warmth of her lifeblood. Messy as it was, Hermione had long since become familiar with this technique as she drew the rune on the base of her staff and flooded it with her magic to seal it. When a part of her felt lighter, and the rune lit up with a silver light, she smiled in success as she put the staff back where it belonged at her back.

This is important because as a person capable of magic she had two types of energy consisting of her being. These energies are called Spirit energy and Nature energy: Spirit energy is essentially what makes up her soul, her "spiritual strength" in a way and all living things have a soul. Therefore this energy exists in all living things. Nature energy is unique on the other hand which is basically the conduct of Nature. The Earth and everything that makes up the world all have distinct energy that few living beings can access. When Nature and Spirit energy exists together in harmony they create new energy - magic.

For Hermione, as a mage, this means that her magic must always be in constant equilibrium. If she needs to use a spell where only one energy, such as Spirit in this instance, she would need to place all of her Nature energy in a separate container that is tied to her - in this case, her staff.

Now ready for what came next, she began to stretch out her muscles in preparation and leaned down as though to touch the ground only to allow her mind to switch gears as her magic wrapped around her like a sleeve. The transformation was swift and painless from years of constant practice. Her feet pawed on the ground to feel the scratch of her claws and as she flexed she felt the muscles warm in her chest and legs.

Her fur was short and the gold underneath beneath the inked blots seemed to glisten in the sunlight. Without the heavy armor to protect her body she now felt featherlight and free to the feeling of the light wind ruffling the dark striped mane down her spine. It had been too long since she last walked the Earth as a spirit (or animus as they were known as) that it was only felt fitting to experience her first day in a time of history this way.

Enjoying the sunlight for just a moment longer she took in a deep breath that wasn't quite so terrible this time and with the sound of her heart pounding in her chest she felt herself at peace. But then the moment was over and it was time to carry on, one step at a time, and for miles (30,250 steps) she traveled across the desert without falter. Thirty-thousand-and-two-hundred-and-fifty-four steps before she made it to solid ground where the sand was spread out more on uneven places.

As she went to take the next step forward she felt her muscles seize up and she collapsed awkwardly on her front. Frustrated, she pushed herself back to her feet and flexed her joints to try and warm them up. She didn't have the time to stop here - daylight was fading and there was an odd mist coming toward her from the west. She could only hope it was from a water source ahead, even if it meant going against every instinct to enter a place she could not see the way out of.

Carrying the weight of her decision, she embraced the foggy cloud until the only means direction she had left was her finely tuned instincts to anything made up of water. No matter how lost she felt she refused to let it hold her back and trusted her instincts, going north when the water demanded south, making it one paw at a time.

She continued this way until finally her efforts were rewarded and she came out to the other side. The sight that greeted her was a river that seemed unending as it stretched across the land in front of her, framed by large trees and a savannah full of animals. Elephants stood near the water, leopards sat in trees, and various warthogs, hares, and birds could be seen gathered in groups in the area.

It was peaceful. There was a balance and harmony here unlike one she had ever seen before. In her time, most of these animals were extinct leaving her only witness of them from other mages who could take their form. She could almost completely blend in with their habitat had it not been for her genetic mutation that had reflected in her spirit. She had never thought odd of it even as it made her stand out among everyone else, how her twisted DNA had reflected in her species as a cheetah.

In fact, it was pretty ironic how a member of the KINGS also happened to be a King Cheetah.

Crouching down on her feet to allow herself a drink she kept her eyes up and body tense around the other animals who had become suspiciously quiet since her arrival. She thought it was odd but maybe even they knew the patterns on her fur made her foreign to their lands.

At least that's what she was thinking until the elephant closest to was suddenly replaced by a man. A large man whose skin was as dark as night and his eyes the brightest blue she had ever seen who was giving her look that told her he knew what she was.

She tested her luck by gulping down another few licks to watch as every single animal in the area revealed their true forms and gathered around her. The confidence in their posture staggering even when there was no weapon in their hands or armor on their clothing.

Perplexed by the confidence they showed she took her time to revert back, needing to stall as much time with their underestimation of her. She was glad her first human interaction was from people with magic and not otherwise. It had been over a hundred years since she was even born when magic was a secret society and she wasn't looking forward to testing the waters there.

A lioness approached the water to the side of the elephant-man and as she transformed Hermione quickly scratched into the scabs of the cut she made earlier before swiping her fingers quickly in it to place behind her back on the staff. She drew the counter rune for the one she placed earlier and quickly sent a current of her magic through her fingertips. She waited until she felt a weight returned like lightning in her veins and with a minuscule tilt of her head she revealed her confidence renewed in her being despite being flanked by potential hostiles.

"I needed water," she revealed to set the line of conversation.

The lioness-turned-woman straightened giving Hermione the impression she made the calls. She was quite a bit taller than her and between the proud tilt of her chin and the comfortable posture, she expressed Hermione could sense the woman's power as it rippled across the water like a breeze that wasn't there.

"As I observed," the older woman began with a noticeable accent thick on her tongue. "The real question is how you managed to find this place and why you are here. You are not a student here. I would remember you."

"That is not an easy question to answer," she muttered but she was still heard.

On one hand, she needed allies but on the other, divulging any kind of information was a big risk that could act against her. Then again, she needed somewhere to recuperate and properly plan now that she was where she needed to be. There were too many things she didn't know and if she made the right acquaintance she would have a good source of information.

What she was doing was risky, too risky even, but it was the only thing she could do.

So Hermione stepped into the water.

Slowly, to show every movement to her audience, she withdrew her staff and held it in front of her with both arms.

"I'll show you," she replied, dipping the staff into the surface of the water as she focused her magic into it. She ignored the tension from those around her and channeled the memories she needed to show to get out of here without amnesty. If they reacted poorly then so be it. But she had to try.

She commanded the water to rise up and create a barricade from onlookers outside of her and the lioness. As she bent the water to her will the other woman swept her hand to the side in front of her where a ball of light suddenly appeared.

Impressive bit of magic, she thought. Wizard's magic was so different from a mages' that it was difficult not to break concentration. Unsheathing her knife she cut into her palm holding the staff and waited for the blood to drip into the water.

_"Here and now_

_I invoke the spirit_

_I call forth that which can no longer be_

_I call you here_

_To reflect the memories deep within"  
_

The ritual complete, she removed her staff and stepped out of the water as colors and shapes began to emerge. It would take a moment for the memories to resurface so as they waited - well she waited and they stared with wide eyes at the spectacle - she watched as the flesh on her hand began to knit back from the water droplets that still wet her hand.

Even though the woman was the only one who would be able to witness the memories Hermione could tell that they weren't used to anything like what she just performed. "Dip your hand into the water," she requested just as the first memory began to surface. It was the only way she would be able to listen to the sound.

The woman looked warily at the water but ultimately (surprisingly) did as she asked.

While her men shifted uneasily behind her, Hermione simply sat down on crossed legs as she waited for it to be over. _Grand structures of skyscrapers stood amidst central city where the festival was taking place is glistening lights, costumes, and colors. There were games, dancing, and laughter at every turn that Hermione could see sitting at the top of her father's shoulders. _

_She was young, her legs barely meeting her father's chest and her tiny hands clutching at his hair. Bullet trains flew by overhead on a narrow wire that was decorated with lights and banners announcing the 2088 New Year since the magical society had integrated into their own. _

_Hermione giggled at the arrival of the dragon riders who flew on the back of the most magnificent creatures she had ever seen. Fire and lightning and frost made shapes in the air that had Hermione shrieking in joy at the sight. This was the best day of her life and as her father set her down by the fountain to get her some treats, she couldn't help but dip her fingertips in the water. _

_Slowly, she carried the quarters from the bottom of the fountain well beyond her reach into her grasp. It was incredible, the way the water bent at her command and moved at every twitch of her finger until the quarters were in her grasp. _

_Footsteps approached her from behind and Hermione turned around to show her father what she could do only to find a man who was definitely not her father. Instead, she met a man wearing the military uniform staring down at her with a cold but apologetic gaze. _

That was the last time she ever saw her father. The man who raised her when her mother left him. The man who looked after her and gave her the best (if shortest) childhood she could've had.

The woman glanced up at her with a mixture of confusion and sadness that Hermione diverted her eyes from to witness the next memory, the most important memory there to see.

_Hermione threw herself forward with a wide sweep of her arm to propel a river of water at the monstrous foes surrounding her and her team. Armed with her staff and the armor protecting her from their blunt weapons and bullets she cut through them even as more of them split through the ground like a rain that never ends. _

_"Granger, we're outnumbered!" The blonde-haired soldier shouted. He wasn't magical but he was a damn good soldier and if he said they were outnumbered, she knew to trust his judgment. "Damit! Fall back! Fall back!" She shouted, her voice carrying over to all four members of her squad as she used her left-over water to set a temporary barrier between them and her. _

_"Command center, we require evac immediately! This place is overrun!" _

_"Copy that, a chopper is on your way. ETA five minutes."_

_"We don't have five minutes!"_

_More and more fissures broke open in the ground causing an entire building to collapse around them. Their only chance was to find some cover._

Hermione made eye-contact with the lioness-woman and gestured at the water as the memory disappeared. "Do you understand?"

She gave her a long, hard look before sighing. As the woman got to her feet so did Hermione.

"Let's talk in my office," the woman said as she offered her hand to Hermione. She knew this could be a trap but after such a blatant display of power in the memories, she liked to think she gave this woman a vague impression. The authenticity of her memories should help her case as well considering she showed her childhood memory to portray an accurate timeline to this woman.

There were many things she left vague because things like the one-hundred-year war and how it began is something she would only divulge when she trusted someone and not on first meetings. So, even with the little, she displayed there wasn't enough to set her mission back.

If anything it should help her cause forward and so with that decision, she took the first step and accepted her hand.

**.**

**.**

**-~ K W ~-**

**.**

**.**

A year had passed since Hermione reset the future and went to the past. For all the things that could've gone wrong, a lot of things went right with the help of Ashanti.

_Hermione stood in the fancy lounge of the African Government and did nothing to portray that the stares of disbelief and disinterest were bothering her in the least. By Ashanti's advice, she chose not to delay this meeting when she was physically older because starting an alliance with deception was known to only lead to wars but Hermione showing up to an entire government that she was going to expose the existence of magic to twenty years early kind of made her nervous._

_It didn't help that physically she looked nothing more than a pre-teen. Getting her to take her seriously might be a problem. Especially when considering the economic differences in the non-magical's government to the magical one. It was staggering, really, when Hermione realized just how advanced her time was in comparison to the present._

_Only a month has passed since she has arrived in the past - now present - to reset the future and it took two weeks for this meeting to even happen. A meeting that was only possible because she convinced the headmistress of Uagadou, Ashanti the lioness, of the sincerity of her mission. A meeting that she honestly feared would go wrong and thus be another few years before she could attempt again._

_With no African Ministry for Magic or any African government for the magical community of any kind outside of Uagadou, she knew that this meeting with the leaders was essential. That if gone wrong, well, she only had the people from Ugadaou to erase their memories of the event (an ability that honesty concerned her)._

_She knew that to gain them on her side she needed them to believe in the reality that could unfold. And to do that she needed to convince them through fear and the source of their fear lay in the film and blueprints in her hand._

_Somehow she needed them to believe, prevent them from reacting poorly, and ensure that it would remain a secret until the right time. A tall order, Hermione knew, but her plan relied on the back of the magical community helping out the non-magical government as much as possible so that they could help all people in their lands._

_Her train of thought was interrupted when an official waved her inside and she took the long walk inside the building, wishing every prayer into the nature energy from the earth and the spirits of the veil that this would all be okay. For the faith that this was going to be the first step in preventing World War III._

It took all of her evidence to make them believe in what was to come (without actually implying that she was from the future - inevitable proof of worldwide war was one thing but time-travel was another) from the blueprints of the Blight's underground layers to the video recordings of the monstrous beings living beneath their country and their world. Even the sight of her magic wasn't the hardest part to convince them of.

A small miracle it was that they looked in the face of a thirteen-year-old and believed the words that came out of her mouth, but thankfully her prediction came true that the government had more important things to worry about than the appearance of their informant.

Turns out 1962 wasn't the most innovative or even open-minded bunch of people but damn were they adaptable. She supposed that extreme poverty would do that for people and for the remaining eleven months she's been living in Africa she's discovered that although this place is completely different than her own timeline, the culture grew on her and the people in Uagadou are an empathetic bunch.

With the government (and only the government) aware of the magical communities existing in secret within every non-magical community they were very accommodating in supplying her with a cover. She was now a student at Uagadou, one of the best schools in the world, with a paper trail covering the grounds for her past and basically that she actually exists.

Even though Africa is working on its own problems first, the amount of help magic has served the country has proven to unite the people with hope and salvation rather than fear. Even if many people question the source to their sudden fortune, their appreciation outweighs the suspicious and now there are houses built, trash cleaned, and countless problems solved.

Hermione knew that when she brought together the next non-magical government aware to their magical counterpart it would be harder than Africa but she'd have living proof that it could work out with Africa backing her up and the sign of how it's helped heal their country since then.

Of course, that's not to say this was an easy result to achieve. Gaining Ashanti as her ally was difficult enough.

_"Why help me? Why really?" Hermione asked, refusing to fold so easily to the alliance the headmistress had just offered her. Not fifteen minutes has it been and already she's agreed to help Hermione prevent a world war?_

_"Do you think I want my home, my country, my entire world consumed by war just because some Dark Lord from another country decided to attempt genocide on an entire species?"_

_"That's not your reason," Hermione persisted. _

_The African woman scoffed, rolling her eyes to the ceiling as though asking for aid before she turned back to face her. _

_"You, based on what you've shown me, are from the future over a hundred years from now. As a child, you were taken from your family for having seen been using magic and yet you are here now so certain that you need to unite the non-magical world with our own." Ashanti summarized. "Why would you want that when it was so personal for you? My only conclusion is that you aren't telling me something vital to your cause and that something can defeat your entire argument to help join our worlds together which have been apart for so long for a good reason."_

_With those words, the headmistress got right up in her face like an angry lioness. _

_"So while I'll help you, I won't trust you until you tell me what you aren't telling me. And until I can trust you, I'll be making my own plans behind the scenes."_

Suffice was to say Hermione came clean to the woman about the 100 Year War. About her theory that to avoid the third World War she just needed to expose the truth differently so that she could prepare them for the Blight and any idiot man who tries to commit genocide.

But she couldn't rely on the woman to have her back. Not realistically. So starting this fall she will be attending an exchange student program to infiltrate the Dark Lord's place of recruitment and weaken his army before it has fully been built. Honestly, Hermione looks forward to a change of scenery. There's too much history in Africa for her and as nice a place Uagadou is (really the perfect cover) she knows that she's needed elsewhere.

Time has never been on her side and Hermione has at most eight years to prevent a war that will last a hundred years. There were millions of lives and entire cultures at stake.

She could not fail.

**.**

**.**

**-~ K W ~-**

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_**Since I know how fond most readers are of author's notes I'm just going to keep this short and simple: I know I have been gone a while and I know my writing quality might not be where it used to be but I promise I'm going to keep writing anyway and see where this journey takes me. **_

_**So I thank everyone who has been with me so far for your support and your patience. And to those who are new and kind in their reviews, I thank you for the faith you have in me. May we both enjoy the future for this story!**_

_**\- GR**_


	2. Upholding A Reputation

**Kings Warfare**

**Chapter Two: Upholding A Reputation**

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"-and you will find that the constellation above you is more than a beautiful decoration in the night. Tonight's closest constellation, Virgo, like all constellations, offer a power to those born under its sign. Since the medieval times men and women born with magic in their veins have named their children of the stars under their birth sign in hopes of giving them a greater power. But the truth of the power of the constellations lie in our interpretation of their power."

Hermione listened avidly as their Astronomy teacher continued her lesson under the starlit night. Her voice was filled with passion and awe that her students responded to just as much, and Hermione could easily say that this was one of her favorite classes in Uagadou.

"Although the constellation of Virgo is different from the sign, when the two intersect at the same point; season and star, it is said that the children born of this time are blessed with great purpose. Some interpret this as a means of power while others say it's a curse to have a destiny you gravitate instinctively toward not of your own free will..."

It was fascinating to hear the history and beliefs of a culture long since dead from her time period. And with today being the first of September, it was fortunate that it was her constellation seen in the night above. To discover more about her lineage and her magic than she could've in her own time.

"Miss Ele?" Hermione turned around to see a new student standing in their doorway with a note in hand. Their teacher gestured them inside and the student was in and out in half a minute leaving the note on the teacher's desk in their wake.

Hermione watched with dulled curiosity as their teacher paused her lesson to check the note and with a beckoning gesture to her, she hurriedly put her books and papers away before approaching the teacher's desk.

The note was passed to her and Hermione tried to read the Swahili contents quickly but her mind was still relatively new to the language, incredible memory or not, but she understood the gist of it and left when the woman gave her a dismissing nod.

"Although Virgo is associated with the Earth this does not necessarily mean those born under the sign have Earth as their element," Hermione smiled knowingly as their teacher continued. "most times the Earth is a representation of a Virgo's personality; a strong sense of responsibility, a self-awareness not found in others, and are versatile and determined toward the many aspects they seek to develop in their lifetime-"

As Hermione reached the end of the hallway she was well out of earshot and the lecture in Astronomy was replaced with cool air and silence.

When Hermione was a soldier she had only ever been to Africa briefly and that was when she was being followed by a mutated Reaver on Kronahviir. It was a firefight she wouldn't forget and a memory of this country she was glad to have finally overshadowed by new memories in Uagadou.

She hadn't been a student at the school for long but between her dark skin and magical prowess, the student body was rather welcoming to her even though she was new to their culture and mannerisms.

Learning their way of life alongside their magic has been fascinating to Hermione, who despite being hardened from battle and war has found herself able to relax and have fun among others who look her age. She wouldn't say she has changed... but rather say she has discovered a part of herself long since conditioned to remain hidden when not helpful to her mission.

But the fun could only last so long before the mission came first and now that it was the start of September she had a 'portkey' to catch so that she would arrive at a town known as Hogsmead where an employee of Hogwarts awaits to escort her inside the school.

Arriving at her dormitory, she quickly waved the secret password in the wards that would grant her access and when the door clicked open, she rushed inside to grab her luggage she had bought and packed just the night before. She only paused a brief moment to take in a final look at her home out the open balcony where her people roamed the desert in animus form. Satisfied, even as the unspoken goodbye squeezed at her heart, she turned around and left her now empty room to head straight to Ashanti - the headmistress's - office.

Upon her arrival, Ashanti knelt behind her desk with a tower of books and pamphlets in front of her. She stood up swiftly at her approach and with a single gesture maneuvered the pile of stuff on her desk into am - apparently - bottomless shoulder bag before handing it to her.

"Here are the books required for the school courses, some pamphlets about the building and the student, a notice for the classes and lastly I have placed a two-way journal for us to communicate without needless tire of mail service," she looked over where an exhausted brown owl was slumped on a perch looking half-dead. Hermione idly wondered why they didn't just portkey their post to their receivers.

"Do not forget that you have a conference with the European Minister of Magic next month and whatever you do, don't bring your troubles back here," she warned but the smile tugging at her lips drained the harshness out of the exclamation.

"Whatever your reasons for leaving, "student exchange program" or not, know that you are a student of Uagadou and as such you represent us at Hogwarts. Live up to our name and show them why we're the number one magic school!"

And with that final declaration Hermione was handed an odd feather with the parting words, "the feather of the diricawl, a payment for your escort," before she was flung away from time and space in the blink of an eye.

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**-~ K W ~-**

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When Hermione's feet returned to their place on the ground she managed to stumble out of the town's square to the back entrance of a shady pub where she allowed herself to collapse and catch her breath from the revolting experience. She felt like her inner organs had been played with like a kitten with a ball of yarn and Hermione would've taken riding a damned Grapcorn over a port key had she known it was going to feel this bad.

Taking a moment to herself, she let her head fall back against the brick wall to gaze up at the sky that was just hitting dusk - a sharp contrast to time in Uganda. It was beautiful here in Scotland though, she would admit as she watched night pour over the small town called Hogsmeade. Where purple skies turned darker by the second and the stars drilled down into the sky reminding them below that the sun had fallen and the moon had taken hold.

Her stomach settled Hermione gathered her bearing and heading toward her objective to find her escort waiting at a different pub... called the Three Broomsticks. She looked around the town but with night having fallen into infinite darkness the signs were unreadable and there were no other signs that led into a direction. Clearing her voice and reminding herself to speak English, she approached the first person she spotted with a curt, "Excuse me, can you please direct me to the Three Broomsticks?"

The man didn't even bother to acknowledge her presence but at least had the decency to point north before shuffling past her where he was clearly needed. Sighing, Hermione went down the street while keeping an ear out for the busiest building because pubs, no matter what time of year, were going to be busy at night. At least, if she based wizard-kind interaction with the Stranded, anyway.

Fortunately, Hermione knew she was in the right place when a man staggered out of a wooden building at the edge of town all sweaty and smelling of aftershave, manure, cheap cologne, and smoke. Laughter and hysteria could be heard through the walls and the sound of vomiting behind the pub was telling enough. Hoping to avoid entering such a crowded, tasteless scenery she analyzed her surroundings carefully for who could be her escort when her eyes finally landed on a proud strutting woman heading straight toward her.

Even in the dark with her enhanced eyesight Hermione was impressed how a woman her age (her real age) could make the thick robes of English people look elegant and stylish as they dressed her figure in an elaborate, almost ostentatious pattern. She was beautiful though and her cutting-edge eyes did nothing but heighten that feature from her stonework bone structure to just the way she held herself.

She was no proud lion like Ashanti but Hermione knew a hardened woman when she saw one.

"You are the student from Uagadou, yes?" Whoever the woman was she skipped right past introductions and into business. Hermione liked her already.

"Yes, ma'am." She said in reflex, and kept her expression blank when she smirked at the honorific.

"I am Acacia Burke and at Hogwarts you will address me as Professor." With a flourish, she led the way down the rest of the street where a towering castle could be seen in the distance. "Since you have arrived right on schedule we should arrive shortly to the school's main hall where you will be introduced in front of the student body."

Although this was news to Hermione she didn't let the grandeur way of introduction appear to afflict her. "As an exchange student you will spend a month in the dormitory of girls you have your classes with starting with Gryffindor and will switch dormitories with the other houses through the progression of the year."

Hermione listened dutifully as she took in all the beautiful sights of Scotland around her. By the time they had left Hogsmeade and took to traveling on the dirt paths leading up to the enormous castle, she found that the view of the lake surrounded by trees in the fall was something she wouldn't mind revisiting in the coming days here.

"Although you will be taking the Hogwarts core curriculum and the extra-curricular activities you have chosen, you will notice that our classes may not be what you are familiar with and so your school will be sending a test to you once a month to ensure you are keeping up with both schools' curriculum," and the look Professor Burke was giving her did not inspire confidence in her abilities. Hermione didn't blame her for it but it was neither appreciated.

"As a student from an international school Hogwarts's staff expects you to be responsible over yourself, your magic and your things. We also expect you to respect our staff and learn our culture during your stay." By the end of her statement they had entered the towering doors of Hogwarts and were now striding down the hallway. Hermione almost gawked at the sight of the moving staircases and wondered how Hogwarts didn't have the highest student deaths. Maybe there was a magic barrier?

"When we arrive at the Great Hall you will stand outside the doors with the first years but not enter until the doors open a second time for your introduction." Hermione wondered if they were trying to intimidate her because they couldn't call themselves "the best magical school" when Hermione was literally from the #1 ranking magical school in the world.

"After our headmaster finishes your introduction you will sit with the House you will be using the dormitories for. For each House you stay with a month, you will be given a schedule to follow that differentiates per House and will be expected to follow according to your curriculum. Your House is who you will spend the most of your time with from your Common Room, your meals, your classes, and your mourning routines. I suggest you not ostracize yourself from the people you'll be living with," and Hermione wondered what the hidden meaning was for that.

She almost sighed at the load of expectations for this student exchange program and almost wished she was back in Africa had this mission not been so important.

It seemed her guidance to the school had come to an end when she saw a few dozen children shuffled in a hazard line looking both excited and terrified in front of the tall doors leading into the Great Hall. When they saw her however all their terror was replaced with curiosity and really Hermione couldn't blame them because between their plain black robes and pointed hats and her cloak-and-armor mesh the difference between who was foreign and who was not was obvious.

But Hermione would make them see that being foreign didn't have to be a completely foreign concept to them either and that she was a student just like them (like a civilian was to a soldier; meaning not at all but they didn't need to know that) so she gave them a relaxed smile and somehow managed to pass on some of that attitude unto them. Their anxiousness had almost completely vanished with their interaction with her that by the time the Great Hall was open to them, Hermione watched them just out-of-sight as they shuffled inside gaping at the interior.

Hermione was impressed by the ceiling but as magnificent as the castle was, she was pretty biased after having seen Uagadou as her first magical school. The way the building was practically apart of the environment from plants and animals alike. How the only real difference were the cooling charms.

When the doors closed to complete the "sorting" of the first year students, Hermione moved to the center of the doorway and took a deep breath. She was representing Uagadou and she knew how important first impressions were to anyone's ego. So she had to do something pretty cool and she had very little time to think of something.

She sighed as she took her staff in hand and decided to treat this like she would on the battlefield and execute her magic with lethal elegance... without the lethal part.

Hermione took a final calming breath as she concentrated on her magic and all the water around her.

Just like on the battlefield, she reminded herself.

And the doors to the Great Hall opened for the second time.

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**-~ K W ~-**

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To the rest of the students at Hogwarts this was just another typical year for them. The staff had kept the exchange program quiet and the headmaster surprised them all when his typical welcome speech diverged. "Now that we are all settled in and sorted I'd like to make an announcement: This castle will not only be your home this year but a home to a very special guest also. This year, Hogwarts will be hosting an exchange student from Uagadou School of Magic," the announcement had the students shouting exclamations of excitement and wonder, their attention sufficiently hooked by the headmaster's words no matter their personal opinions of him. "They will be staying for the course of the entire year and will enjoy the full experience Hogwarts has to offer between the four Houses. For now, please join me in welcoming Hermione Granger: Uagadou's best and brightest student!" With a wave of his hands at the end of his speech the doors to the Great Hall opened and in strode a witch that held the attention of the entire audience of Hogwarts.

A young woman surprised them all with her appearance, the way she held a beautifully crafted staff that she twirled masterfully with an artistic grace in her hands from left to right as she continued to move forward without breaking her stride. Her skin contrasted with them all with her dark brandy skin that had clearly seen plenty of sun and her obsidian curly hair that was darker than the sky above them. Even the freckles that danced across her skin from beneath her eyes were dark but none of her features did anything but highlight her natural beauty.

Not to mention that it wasn't only her physical appearance that differentiated from them. Unlike them, her uniform was nothing like their own. Where they wore heavy fabrics that covered their skin and kept them warm, she wore a strangely cut robe that reached down past her legs to just above her ankles while the sleeves were missing entirely to reveal arms that were chiseled with muscle that wasn't bulky nor flat. In fact, every bit of skin that was shown told that her body was well looked-after and made up of long lean powerful limbs that all served a purpose. Even the metal plating and leather pieces meshed with the cloak-like robe that covered her entire torso from the chest to the hips that made Aurors look under-dressed.

A shroud was lifted over her head and covered her eyes that was dyed blue like the rest of her cloak but the gold embroidery on it made it stand out from the rest. But what blew them all away, student and professor alike, as when the gourd on her back made its presence known as the witch suddenly tossed her staff high into the air before she gracefully wove her hands in a elegant pattern causing water to wordless and wandlessly leave the gourd to swirl around her like she held waves of the ocean in her hands.

In mere seconds she executed this move before twirling her body up as though she were to leap and let go of the water and caught her staff in the same instant that time itself seemed to freeze before she continued to twirl her staff but now each motion was deliberate and steady as she commanded the water around her in a single motion like they were one form and not two separate entities.

The entire presentation was a beautiful piece of magic for them all to witness but just as they thought it couldn't get any better-

with a great slam Hermione took the staff in both hands and slammed it in the ground before she flipped herself up and balanced herself on the flat end as the water hit the ground with a soundless splash that was nothing but deliberate. With careful yet quickly executed forms Hermione wove arms around like she was boneless

At first, only a shapeless form rose from the water but as the witch's movements grew faster to the point they became a blur to the naked eye they watched as a wingless dragon rose from the water and huffed out a steam from its nostrils. What water remained on the floor hissed from sudden heat and turned to steam-like fog that wrapped around the water construct like a cloak. Everyone was left in a state of awe as the witch's movements ceased entirely and yet the water dragon remained solid as it flew through the air to rest over her shoulder - watching them all.

Then, what felt like eternity later was only a second and everything suddenly returned to water as Hermione's feet returned to the floor with one hand holding the staff and the other directing the water back into the gourd at her back. Everything was still and silent as she finally removed the shroud that covered her eyes revealing the intelligent shine resided there. She nodded her head in the form of a nod and then the Great Hall was in chaos as the student body jumped to their feet (who hadn't already) and rewarded her performance with a deafening applause.

It was an incredible experience that left several of the professors wanting to question her on the various elemental transfiguration and flawless skill without saying an entire thing the entire performance.

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**-~ K W ~-**

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Hermione watched in veiled amusement as it took several attempts for the Headmaster to get his students to quiet and settled down. The mage was feeling pretty secure about upholding Uagadou's reputation and it was as entertaining it was for her as it was for them to see their reactions.

But as elaborate and showy her spell-casting had been Hermione knew that their spells and her own were unique to their kind. She wouldn't ever be able to perform many of their spells and could only do a modified version whereas they could possible do what she just did but it would take their own spells and their own skill through countless years of practice to even attempt to match what she just did.

Nevertheless, her performance had served its purpose: secure their attention to her evident skill in her magic ability in order for them to look past her surname, her origin and (if needed) her race. And if they still held-fast it would at least sew the first seed of doubt in their minds.

"Thank you for the demonstration," the Headmaster began once his students had calmed and settled, "Hogwarts is proud to have you with us, I'm sure we will learn a lot from one another." Hermione nodded.

"For this month you will be seating with the House of our brave, if a little reckless, Gryffindors!" As if to make what House they were all the more apparent from their red and gold, griffin adorned banners, every single student from the smallest to the tallest leaped right back to their feet to welcome her to their table.

Hermione nodded her head politely and shook their hands (a cultural thing here, it seemed) until they were all settled in again. Several people squished together in an attempt to sit as close to her as possible and Hermione wondered if this was just going to be for tonight or an everyday thing (she hoped for the former).

"Let the Feast begin."

Hermione tensed when food suddenly appeared on the table filling every space of wood that didn't have a plate for serving. It was more food than she had ever seen in her life that was fresh and hot for eating. A part of her was ravenous to feast on such a meal but mostly she wondered what happened to the left-overs and how many homeless and starving people around this could feed if wizard-kind wasn't so gluttonous.

Perhaps she was ignorant of a greater cause for such things but Hermione was from a resource-deprived world that relied on MREs (which weren't all bad) and artificial foods to keep her fed and lean. But by no means could she say, even in Uagadou, that she has seen such a feast and it was a foreign concept to her.

Thankfully, her instructors had drilled in her head what her body's food requirements were in order to not only stay healthy but maintain her augmented body. If she was worried about what time-reversal would do to her body it was equivalent, if not more concerning how things like malnutrition could cause her body to shut down and fail to function. She's had to eat non-eatable objects in order to stave off the starvation from occurring (she winced just thinking about what she had to endure).

Unfortunately, she only had time to herself to pick out the various food supplements her body needed (and some they didn't that she needed to find for herself) before all of Gryffindor zeroed in on her for interrogation.

"That was bloody brilliant, you know?" A boy exclaimed down the bench. Another girl, closer to Hermione agreed with him by shouting down the table to answer him before turning to her.

"I'm Marlene," she introduced with her hand outstretched across the table. Hermione was surprised her sleeve didn't catch in the mash potatoes. "Good meeting you," she replied and went to take a bit of her food when she was asked another question.

"I've never heard anything like your accent before!" A curious looking red-head exclaimed before leaning in closer, as if that would somehow help him understand it better. "I'm not surprised," Hermione offered politely then stuck some green beans in her mouth to try and keep them from asking for more.

She wanted to grumble about all the attention, wishing she could just pull rank to get them to quiet down like she would with her own squad. Back then, any time you had to eat was short and should be savored because their next meal was uncertain (and often tasteless or stale).

"What is it?" He continued to prob and then seemed to catch himself. "I'm Arthur Weasley, by the way."

"I've traveled a lot," she replied without giving a straight answer and ate quicker before all this talking left her with an empty stomach. She ignored how everyone else was talking about her even when she was right there and wondered again if this was childishness, rudeness, or another culture thing.

She gave a lot of vague answers that seemed to satisfy the most curious of them (the ones who always asked questions while she was eating and stared at her until she swallowed) that varied from what kind of food she liked in Uagadou, if she had any pets, what her classes would be here and even one girl commented how she was more fit than most boys on the Quidditch team making the boys glare or grin sheepishly at her.

And just when she thought it was over when the main dishes were vanishing she nearly groaned when desert showed up instead. Hermione could count on one hand and still have fingers left with how often she's had any kind of desert. Honestly, that cooked goat Kronahviir got her was the closest thing to desert she had in a long time because it was a delicacy no one really had in her time.

While everyone dug into desert Hermione just waited for time to fly as she sipped from tea (the one constant in her time) that tasted like turmeric and ginger. A ton of people introduced themselves to her and Hermione only caught a few of their faces to go with a name before they were distracted and turned away or someone else took their place. It was an amount of positive she wasn't used to and she doubted she'd ever get used to it. Even in Uagadou, people never stared at someone as long as these students did (and even some teachers) that it made her tense and uneasy even as she tried to appear relax and disarming - despite her self-evident show of prowess at the doorway.

When they were finally sent up to their common rooms, Hermione found a note on the Announcement Board that her classes would be with the second years due to curriculum differences in Uagadou (not surprising) and Hogwarts. Thus, she'd be bunking with the second years but both parties somehow managed to ignore how much she stood out from them.

She was easily the tallest among them and although they could claim it was an age difference even among her technical age group she was still unusually tall - augmented skeleton would do that to a person but they don't need to know that either.

Thankfully, she was able to shower in relative privacy and open showers were not a foreign concept to her but she didn't want to explain (or generally take more attention) why there were surgical scars all over her body and other very obvious non-surgical scarring that occurred before she was sent into combat. Her MAGES training was brutal and it served her well, but it also left its mark on her body.

By the time she was in bed and enclosed in a false sense of security via bed curtains she found herself mentally going over her plan for tomorrow that would need her to begin building an impression but also maintain the reputation she presented tonight. She exhaled deeply, going through her to-do list until finally her mind was clear of all distractions and she could enter a meditative dream-like state.

Only then did she finally sleep.


End file.
